Pantera's Memory
by Hakuakai Kanata
Summary: What happened before Neliel left? What if there was a entire memory yet explained in the manga? Rated M for language.
1. The New Sexta

"_Damn them….I will remember them….And when I see them again….I'll fucking kill them all…."_

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_He was a hot-headed smartass who enjoyed nothing more than a good fight. One who denied all authority except his own, and wanted things his way no matter how complicated or rash it seemed._

_She was a level-headed gentle soul who would much rather keep peace than engage in battle. She would protect those close to her heart, and only fight with purpose._

_He didn't see what drew them together, much less why. Even when she had disappeared and he fought to find her. He still didn't understand what brought him to do so. He refused to believe the only answer he could come to. Was it really love?_

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Neliel slowly sheathed her sword, looking down upon the scowling man who lay crumpled in the sand. She sighed, only to get a grunt of annoyance from the man.

"That's it for now." Neliel stated in her soft, child-like voice.

"No, damnit! I want another round!" He yelled out, blood flying out from the side of his mouth.

"I refuse to fight you again Nnoitra."

"Bitch! Fight me!" He yelled once more as he struggled to get up, but fell back down in his own blood.

Neliel turned her head, "I pity you." She softly told the octova before walking off, blue-green locks following behind her.

"Get back here you fucking bitch!" Nnoitra continued to yell, before taking out the rest of his anger on his lone fraccion who had arrived to his aid.

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"I don't understand you woman."

Neliel paused for a moment, turning to see a lone figure on the opposite end of the hallway. She quickly recognized him as Grimmjow Jagerjaques. She didn't know him very well since the lower ranking arrancars normally kept away from the Espada.

"Why don't you just kill the damn bastard?" He nonchalantly asked while approaching her.

Neliel looked at the 12th, slightly confused by his casual behavior. "Why is that any of your concern?"

Grimmjow shrugged, "What? I can't ask a simple question?"

"What goes on in the Espada is none of your concern doce." Neliel sternly told him.

"Che, if it was me I'd kill him in one shot." Grimmjow grinned, glancing at his hands.

Neliel looked at him, "You didn't even hear what I said. Besides, you're too overconfident."

Grimmjow chuckled, "That damn Nnoitra is a pussy. I know I can destroy him with no problem."

She quickly came to know Grimmjow Jagerjaques as a cocky, nonchalant, rebel.

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Two months later, Neliel watched as the ranks of the lower arrancars began to change. Each of the bloodthirsty and power-hungry arrancar killing off the other in a pathetic attempt to gain a higher rank, to prove their power, and to show their worth toward Aizen. Neliel hated this animalistic behavior, and despised the fact that she too had to go through the same process to get where she was now. She wasn't surprised to even find some of the Espada joining in the blood bath.

Neliel choose to get away from the nonsense battling and walked around the sands of Hueco Mundo. She sat on a rock far off from Las Noches, and pulled out one of the few books she had in her collection.

She had read for quite some time before her moment of peace was interrupted. She heard his footsteps shifting the sand, and could almost see the maniacal grin across his blood-soaked face. Neliel didn't want to look away from her book, but for some reason, her brown eyes met his crazy, blue-eyed stare. She noticed his torn clothing along with dozens of scratches and minor cuts along the arrancar's body, his crazed expression showed that he wasn't fazed by the injuries.

"What do you want doce?" Neliel asked; looking at the blood spattered man.

Grimmjow laughed, "Its Sexta now woman." He smugly told her while turning around and pointing at the newly tattooed six on his back, along with revealing a large open wound near his shoulder blades. "I told you that damn Nnoitra is a pussy."

"You came here to tell me that?" Neliel sighed, "You're no different than Nnoitra."

Grimmjow's grin quickly faded as he turned back around to face the green-haired woman, "Why are you comparing me with that bastard?"

Neliel closed her book and stood up to better face the new Espada, "You're both the same, fighting for no other reason than power, for your own gain. You're both animals, surviving on one another's blood."

Grimmjow laughed once more, "What else am I supposed to fight for? I fight for myself, and for my own ideals."

Neliel glared at him, "Everyone here just mindlessly fight to prove themselves to Aizen-sama."

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, "What did I just say woman? I don't give a shit about Aizen. I fight for myself."

Neliel started to walk off, but paused before doing so, "Well, if you don't fight for Aizen-sama, you could fight for those dear to your heart." She softly told him as she walked back toward Las Noches, leaving a confused Sexta behind.


	2. The Book

"_You were the only one…"_

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Neliel awoke in a cold sweat; once again a good night's sleep was brought to an end by another nightmare. She looked around, nothing but the cold grey walls and tile floor. Soft hands rubbed tired eyes and she gave a heavy sigh before carefully pulling the white bed sheets off of her legs. Careful to put the sheets back neatly, she reached under her bed and pulled out a small, faded red, fabric-bound book from its box that it shared with seven others. Neliel carefully fingered the aged pages before walking out the door and toward the sands of Hueco Mundo.

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It was a long distance, but she eventually found her favorite spot once more. The large rock seemed out of place in the vast white desert, since nothing was visible for miles besides the black sky. Neliel gently sat down, relaxed, and opened her book to where she had left off last. This story was one of her favorites; she had already read all of her books several times, but with only a short supply of reading material, she didn't mind.

Once again she didn't get very far before being interrupted.

"Couldn't sleep huh?"

Neliel slowly closed her book, delicate fingers running down the fabric on the cover. "Shouldn't you be in your room Sexta?" She examined the cover of her book.

Grimmjow grinned, "What about you Tercera?"

Neliel looked up from her book, to find him standing in front of her with a somewhat confident stance, electric blue eyes dimmed down to a deep grey-blue showing off his now calm demeanor.

She looked back down at her book, then at the showy white sand. "I just wanted to read, that's all."

He looked at her, a slightly curious expression now upon his face, "Read? Where the hell did you find books?"

Neliel flipped the book over, brown eyes now examining the back, "I have my own collection."

Grimmjow turned to look toward the night sky, showing that he already lost his curiosity in her, "Che, you're strange, woman."

Neliel looked at him, "I have a name you know."

He didn't move from his current focal point, "What, I'm supposed to remember your name?"

"I could just as easily call you Sexta for the rest of your life."

"Like I give a fuck."

"Why did you come here if you're just going to be annoyed by me?"

Grimmjow's eyes moved away from the sky and turned their interest toward the sand. "How am I supposed to fucking know?"

She looked at him with a confused expression, "You don't know?"

Grimmjow squinted, his calm mood quickly turned into irritation, "What's with all the fucking questions?"

"Well you had to come out here for some reason."

After a long silence, he looked up at her and grinned wildly, his eyes returning to their original electric blue. "Well, if you want a reason…How 'bout a little sparring?"

Neliel gave heavy sigh; that had to be the least appealing thing to her right now, "You should already know my answer to that."

Grimmjow gave a short laugh, "I'll go easy on ya."

"You're too cocky. You've only been Sexta for two weeks."

"Doesn't mean I can't spar with you."

"I don't want to fight you."

"Che, you're no fun."

"Fighting isn't fun."

Grimmjow grimaced, annoyed by her response, but decided to keep silent. The last thing he wanted was for her to tell him that he was like Nnoitra. He didn't understand why, but it pissed him off when she told him that the first time. Grimmjow looked over at Neliel, who had returned to her book. He walked toward her and leaned over, trying to figure out what she found so interesting in this book of hers.

Neliel looked up when she noticed a shadow was blocking what little moonlight she had to read by. His eyes showed his kitten-like curiosity, but yet they were distant.

"So…what are you reading?"

Neliel couldn't help but giggle, "Why do you want to know?"

Grimmjow frowned a bit when he heard her giggle, he didn't say anything funny. "I just do."

"Well, if you must know, it's a love story."


	3. Useless Emotion

"_Grimm-Kitty…"_

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Grimmjow let out a noisy yawn as he stepped forward to open the large oak door that lay between him and his quarters. For some reason the muscles in his back ached and it was starting to give him a headache. As the door opened he placed his hand on the middle of his back, massaging along the spine to try and lessen the pain.

The first thing to go was the jacket; it fell in a jumbled mess on one of the few furnishings in the room, a small grey armchair. The tired arrancar's eyes traveled up to the barred window placed in the middle of the northern most wall in the room. _Just what the hell are they trying to keep out? _

Grimmjow looked at the door and closed it before he started to remove the rest of his clothing as he made his way into the shower that was placed in a small bathroom on the right wall. The bathroom door was already open and he didn't bother to close it, as long as his room door was closed it didn't matter.

He turned on the hot water on full blast, tense muscles relaxed, and he gave out a heavy sigh.

_Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all,_ he laughed to himself. Grimmjow had actually found someone to spar with after leaving Neliel to finish her reading. Unfortunately it was just a lower-ranking arrancar who thought they could take his place in the Espada. The battle was over quickly, just a waste of energy and time. All it did was leave him even more bored and tense.

The more he thought, the more his mind wandered to the slim, green-haired Trecera. He didn't want to admit it, but he had never met anyone that attracted him ever so closer. She was different, her way of thinking was different, and it clashed with everything that he believed.

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"_A love story?" Grimmjow laughed, "Obviously a human book, we arrancars don't need something so pathetic."_

_Neliel glanced at him, her brown eyes looked dull, "Just how is it pathetic?"_

"_Che, love is a useless emotion, all it does is hold you back. Either way, as hollow we are incapable of love."_

"_Have you ever been in love?"_

"_Hell no. What did I just tell you? It's useless."_

"_If you have never been in love, who are you to say that it's useless? We may be hollow, but we aren't limited to a world without emotions. I believe we are capable of love, we just have to learn to accept our feelings."_

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He slowly turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing a clean white towel that the maid had placed on the bathroom counter after cleaning the rooms. He wrapped the towel around his waist, and glanced at the small, steam covered mirror placed above the counter. Irritation quickly came over him after noticing a cut along the bottom of his left eye. The blood was still flowing, mixing in with the drops of water on his face.

Grimmjow choose to ignore this, and walked out of the bathroom, leaving a trail of water. He slicked back his damp teal hair and shuffled through messy drawers before finding a pair of boxers and tossing them on the small grey bed in the opposite corner. After drying off, he walked over, put on the boxers and plopped down on the bed after doing so.

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Neliel stood up, her reading finally done; she decided to try and get some sleep just as everyone else.

It didn't take long for her to walk back into Las Noches; she wasn't very surprised at how quiet it was. Even when everyone was awake, each of the Espada barely bothered to speak to anyone, even to each other. She sighed, the large, empty marble hallways echoing the sound of her soft breathing. However, she soon realized that she wasn't alone.

"Hello there, Neliel."

She paused, that voice, the one person that she didn't want to run into today, "What do you want Nnoitra?" She asked the man behind her; soft childish voice changing into a more serious tone.

"What? Not happy to see me?" The tall lanky man answered, a large twisted smile on his face as he walked around to face her.

"I'm tired, please leave me be."

"I bet you're heading off toward the Sexta's room, right?"

"Excuse me?"

Nnoitra laughed, "Don't play dumb with me. I've seen you talking to him." His smile disappeared, "You're such a whore."

Neliel stepped back, "Just because I talk to him doesn't mean I have a relationship with him."

"Yeah right," He leaned over, his face uncomfortably close to hers.

"Nnoitra, I meant what I said, leave me be."

"What? Am I making you upset?" He questioned, a smile painted on his narrow face.


End file.
